The NHL season is now past the quarter mark. I think we have had ample opportunity to formulate an image of what our Canuck team is now all about. It seems they have adopted a “run-and-gun” style of play – plenty of shots on goal without scoring.

During my coaching career, I had a reputation of preferring a fast-paced game, with my teams playing up-tempo. Success was determined by the capacity of my team to play that style. When faced with coaching a team that lacked this ability, in order to give them their best chance to win, I changed my approach.

I believe the hallmark of a good coach is to get the most out of your players, to create a system around the athletes you have rather than fitting your players into a pre-set system. It seems that John Tortorella wants to play a certain style but has a shortage of players who have the skill-set to fit with his preferred style.

When one coaches, one should coach to win. If that means playing a different brand of hockey, then one makes the necessary adjustments. In the case of the Canucks, some moves and trades must be made to acquire players who have the capacity to play the “Torts” style of game.

Roberto Luongo has intimated that it might be time to change the team’s approach. As much as I enjoy the excitement of the up-tempo game the Canucks are now playing, I agree with Luongo. If they don’t adopt a different approach soon, I doubt they will be playing past the regular season.

Louisa Zerbe
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